by Morgan Rice
Sophia hoped that she could live up to everything that they needed from her.
They grew closer to Monthys step by step, hour by hour. The landscape changed as they marched, with hills replacing the flat ground of the south, the ground rising as her people walked over it. Sophia could remember coming this way before, walking with Emeline and Cora at her side, trying to get to somewhere safe.
Now, it was about safety of a different kind. For as long as the Master of Crows and the New Army were still there, the kingdom would not be safe. Her child was gone, thanks to them. How many more people would lose their children because of him?
“None, if I can help it,” Sophia promised.
There were so many people there with her now that the journey was a difficult one. Crossing the river with so many people was far harder than just three, while finding food for them along the way was a far bigger challenge. Aia and the others of the twelve were helping with that, while there seemed to be plenty of people who could hunt among Sophia’s grand procession, but even so, she was sure that some of them were hiding their hunger, not wanting her to see their suffering.
“Are you all right, girl?” she asked Sienne. The forest cat padded along quietly beside her, not leaving her side as though sensing Sophia’s grief. Sophia put a hand down to her and she brushed against her.
“We’re getting close to Monthys, my queen,” Lani said. “Another couple of hours, at most.”
“And then the battle,” Sophia said. “Aia, we need to decide what to do.”
She halted for a moment, reaching out with her sense for her kingdom, trying to see how things lay. She could see the armies spreading out, not just the New Army, but another as well, converging on Monthys. She could see other figures heading there: Sebastian ahead, looking frantic by a riverbank, Kate… Sophia saw her for a moment, and then she seemed to slip into the shadows around Monthys.
The estate itself looked strange, because from here, Sophia could see whole networks of power around it, webs of it set up but dormant. Sophia could see the places where fire might leap up if she touched them with the energy of the stone she’d taken from Morgassa. She saw other spots that could be touched by ice, or stone…
She also saw the crows, circling above.
“There’s no trickery to this battle,” Sophia said. “We can’t sneak up on the New Army, and I’ll see any move that they make.”
“We could use magic to block some of their ability to see us,” Aia said.
Sophia thought for a moment. “That might work for small groups, but not for a whole army. Maybe small groups will be enough though. Aia, I want you to pick groups of Stonehome’s warriors, people who can hide and move. I want them to be ready to strike at the fringes of the New Army.”
“Yes, my queen,” Aia said with a nod. “There is still the question of some of those travelling with us. Are they all going to fight?”
Sophia was about to ask the other woman what she meant, but one look around at her forces told her the answer to that. With every step that they’d come north, they’d picked up refugees as well as warriors, those too young, or weak to fight; those without the skills to do it. Sophia couldn’t take a horde of children and the old into the kind of battle that was coming.
“Everyone halt!” Sophia called out, using a flicker of magic to amplify her voice. “I need you to listen to me.”
The army gathered around her, and the sheer numbers of the people there took Sophia a little by surprise. She could hardly believe that so many people had joined her along the way. There were almost too many to count, and Aia had been right to ask her about them: far too many of them looked like women and children who would never be able to fight.
“We’re close to Monthys,” she said, and a great cheer went up from the people there. Sophia held up her hands. “It’s an important moment, but it’s also a dangerous one. We’re about to go into battle.”
She could see the fear on some of the faces there.
“I can’t force anyone here to fight for me. I won’t. I need fighters though, and I ask you to do it.”
Another cheer rose up from the people there.
“Not all of you, though,” Sophia said. “Some of you don’t have weapons; some of you don’t know how to fight. I know you want to help, but right now, the best way to do that if you aren’t armed is to wait behind. Keep yourselves safe, and help to keep the children safe. I won’t drag you into the middle of a battle.”
The people with her started to separate, so that there was a group of warriors on one side, and a group of those who had merely chosen to march with Sophia on the other. She addressed them.
“You will have a role to play when this is done,” she promised. “You will help us to rebuild.” Although right then, it felt as though nothing could help to rebuild her heart. “Right now though, we march to battle!”
Sophia stepped back as her army started to move, and it was still an army, even without the many people who stepped aside from it. Sophia was surprised to find Lani moving into step with her.
“You should stay behind too,” Sophia said.
“No, my queen,” Lani said. She had a spear in her hand now. “Where you go, I go.”
Sophia thought about arguing with the girl, but she could also see from her thoughts that arguing would do no good.
“All right,” Sophia said, “but stay close to me. Aia, I want you with me too. The others of the twelve will command sections. It will make it quicker to relay orders.”
“Yes, my queen,” Aia said.
They marched in the direction of Monthys, seeing it spread out before them. Sophia could make out the house now, but she could also make out the other forces there, drawing themselves up into lines, readying themselves for battle. Sophia could see the cannon there and the massed ranks of pike men, the muskets and the cavalry.
For a moment, she wanted to hold back from the slaughter that would surely follow. For a moment, she wanted to say that nothing could be worth this. Then she saw the Master of Crows standing at the head of his army, the man who had caused so much pain in the world, the man who had killed her child.
“Advance!” she called, and her forces plunged forward into the space around Monthys, ready for battle.
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
Sebastian made his way along the road to Monthys as quickly as he could, not wanting to waste a moment after what the hooded man had said. If this was the way that he got to see his daughter again, then he wouldn’t slow down until he got there.
He galloped his horse until he was sure that the animal couldn’t take it anymore, only slowing when there was no other choice, only stopping when the animal needed to be fed or watered. His own comfort meant nothing to Sebastian right then. All that mattered was getting to Monthys, doing as the hooded man had said, and seeing Violet once more.
The landscape changed around him, becoming hillier and less tree covered. Sebastian pressed on, knowing that every mile he ate up mattered, and that it couldn’t be that much further to Monthys. Already, he could see the route that led there, and the mountainous slopes that hid it from view.
Ahead, he started to hear sounds that he hadn’t expected to hear: the boom of cannon and the blare of trumpets. It could only mean a battle, and around Monthys, Sebastian was sure that could only involve one set of forces.
He started to push his horse forward again, as fast as he could.
He didn’t go the direct route, picking a path that looked as though it might lead around to the back of the estate. Alone, he didn’t dare plunge into the heart of the battle, but perhaps he could avoid it entirely.
He rode up around the mountain, taking a pass that gathered in steeply on both sides. He cut around a corner…
…and found himself face to face with a pair of New Army soldiers coming the other way.
Sebastian drew his sword and cut in one movement, slashing down at the first of them. He caught the man across the collarbone, smashing him down to the path
. The second of the men lifted a musket, firing blindly, but Sebastian was already throwing himself from his horse. He hit the ground and felt the sword jar from his hand, but he didn’t hesitate. Instead, he barreled into the second soldier as the man reached for his own blade.
They went to the ground together, punching and grappling. Sebastian managed to get on top for a moment, striking down at the man, but then the other man rolled him, coming up on top with a knife in his hand.
Sebastian trapped the other man’s wrist with both of his hands, forcing the knife away from him. He struck the man with his elbow once, then twice, then forced the knife around as the man tried to plunge it down. The soldier gave a gasp as the knife went into him, and he toppled over.
Sebastian stood. His horse was gone, run off down the slope, but he was able to collect his sword, and he still had Stonehome’s heart stone in his belt pouch. He hurried on along the path, hoping that there wouldn’t be more of the New Army there.
There wasn’t, but the closer he got, the more the sounds of battle increased. Sebastian just hoped that there would be a way to get to the house without having to wade through the middle of it. Below, he saw the battle spread out, with men in the royal colors caught in battle with the massed ranks of the New Army and a third force that fought under a banner Sebastian didn’t recognize.
The battle was far enough from the house that Sebastian was able to run for it, one of the doors opening as he got close and a trio of men pulling him inside. They barred the door.
“Your Majesty,” one of the men said. “We had hoped that you would come to Monthys, but not under these circumstances.”
Sebastian had no time for explanations. There was only one thing that he wanted to know.
“Where’s Violet? Is my daughter here?”
The man stared at him blankly, and that was enough of an answer in itself to send Sebastian’s hopes crashing even before the man spoke.
“Your Majesty, your daughter hasn’t been here. Isn’t she with you?”
Even though he’d been told that Violet wasn’t there, Sebastian had to make sure. He ran through the house, seeing the other warriors there, soldiers of the realm, men of the various free companies, and more. There were men and women there, even some children as families obviously took refuge from the events in the kingdom.
There was no sign of Violet though, wherever Sebastian looked.
“No,” Sebastian said. “They said…”
The man had said that this was the only chance to see his daughter again, and Sebastian had believed him. He’d been a fool to do it. He’d lost his daughter. He’d failed to keep her safe.
Sebastian stumbled through the house, into what looked like the fire damaged wreckage of an ancient ballroom. There were patterns set around the walls, with spaces where jewels had obviously once sat, while the windows provided what would have been a grand view out over the estates if armies hadn’t been battling there for supremacy.
Sebastian looked out then, and he saw his wife.
Sophia stood on one of the hills near the estate, surrounded by an honor guard of warriors, her forest cat at her side. Sebastian had thought that she was away across the sea. He hadn’t even thought to look for her here, yet there she was, standing there directing the royal army.
“Why are you in here?” Sebastian demanded of the soldiers in the house. He pointed to the outside. “Your queen is out there, fighting for her kingdom, and you’re still in here.”
The man who had dragged him inside looked at him as if he’d gone mad.
“There’s not enough of us,” he said. “There’s no cover, and there are too many of them! We can’t even hold this house for long.”
“Then why stay in it?” Sebastian demanded. He looked around at the designs on the wall. The slots for jewels looked faintly familiar, pricking at something in his mind. He took the pouch from his belt, opening it, but being careful not to touch the stone within with bare skin.
“A perfect fit,” Sebastian murmured, lifting the heart of Stonehome to the wall. It locked into place with an audible click. Power seemed to flow along the designs on the wall and floor, turning some of them gold, then copper, then a deep burnished silver.
One of the warriors in the house came to him. “Is that…”
“The heart of Stonehome,” Sebastian said. “It needs power though.”
“I’ve powered the circle there,” the man said. “I can do this.”
He seemed to concentrate, and Sebastian saw the stone brighten with energy. The designs on the floor glowed just as brightly.
Outside, Sebastian heard a rumbling sound.
He looked through the window and saw the ground outside of the building shifting, walls appearing out of nowhere, ditches spreading out.
“I can control it, a little,” the Stonehome warrior said. “But you need to tell me where you want the defenses.”
Maybe that would have been a problem for someone else, but Sebastian’s mother had tried to turn him into a prince who knew the tactics of war, had tried to make him everything she’d hoped a ruler should be. Thanks to his tutors, he knew where the defenses should go to give Sophia all the advantages she needed.
“There,” Sebastian said, pointing. “I want walls there and there. Ditches along the flanks of the enemy’s army, standing posts in the mid-ground to break up charges.”
The ground outside shifted like a potter’s clay. At the same time, Sebastian saw the walls of Monthys closing up, healing like wounds, becoming more castle like by the moment.
He wasn’t done.
“Form up!” he yelled to the men waiting in Monthys. “That is your queen out there, and I am your king. We are going to join this battle, and we are going to win it!”
It was enough to get the men there on their feet, or perhaps that had something to do with their shock at the way the battlefield had just changed. They had all the cover they needed now to approach the enemy. Sebastian just hoped that it would be enough.
They formed up before the great doors at the front of the house, preparing themselves. Sebastian took a breath, turned to the man next to him, and nodded. The man threw open the doors, exposing the battlefield before them.
Sebastian charged.
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
Sophian hated commanding people to their deaths, but here, now, there was nothing but death. Everything around her consisted of killing, the screams of the dying and the pleas of the people about to die.
She felt the moment when the ground shifted, felt the power involved in doing it. She stared towards the house, trying to work out who could have done it, who could have had that kind of power. She thought about Stonehome, and the power that had been involved in its shields and mist. This felt the same, but this felt like more than that at the same time.
“I have my own power,” Sophia said, taking out the fire stone. She concentrated on the New Army’s cannons, thinking about what she’d done before with the powder of the men attacking her. She reached out for the powder there, feeling the dryness of it, and the potential that existed within it. She reached out with the power of her kingdom, focusing it through the stone, unleashing it.
The New Army’s cannons exploded.
They shattered in a shower of metal that seemed to engulf the world for a moment. Around them, men died, cut down by the slivers of gunmetal and the flames that rose from the powder. Flames rippled out around them, killing more, and it took an effort from Sophia to keep from spreading that death out through the battle as a whole. Doing that would kill her own people, and Sophia wouldn’t risk them, wouldn’t sacrifice them on the altar of her power.
“Aia,” Sophia said, “have the hidden units strike now.”
“Yes, my queen,” the warrior replied, and concentrated for a moment. Across the battlefield, Sophia saw squads of warriors rising up from hidden spots, striking at the commanders of enemy units, cutting into the flanks and backs of their formations.
“It’s not enough,
” Sophia said.
Her forces were brave, and the powers she had at her disposal helped to even the odds, but even so, there were too many of the enemy. The New Army alone would be a dangerous prospect, but Henry d’Angelica’s forces only added to the problem. His cavalry harried at the edges of Sophia’s forces, while units of his infantry moved in with almost mechanical precision, cutting down her warriors through the efficient grind of their pikes and shot.
Sophia sent fire towards the cavalry, sending a brief sheet of flame up in front of the horses to panic them, but there were more coming in from the other side. They slashed into the flank of one of her formations, cutting into it like a scythe and then pulling away. As the men there turned to face the new threat, the Master of Crows’ army struck at them from the other side.
“I can’t control everything,” Sophia said, feeling horror rising at the deaths all around her. “I can’t stop it.”
“The people here chose to be here,” Lani said, beside her. “I chose to be here.”
Sophia still found herself wishing that the other woman had chosen to stay with the non-combatants. She hated that so many people had to die for all of this. She found herself wishing that it could have just have been some contest between her and the Master of Crows, yet all of this… at least it might bring an end to this. At least it brought a chance of peace with it.
She struck out with the magic that she had again and again, summoning fire, trying to use what she could see of the future to direct the troops under her command. There was so little that she could do at this point though. Now that the battle was joined, there was no more room for maneuver. The earthworks that someone had raised around them had given them a chance, cutting down on the New Army’s ability to flank them, but they still didn’t have enough people. They still didn’t have enough raw power to overcome the threat.